Nutrien lays off 80 workers at Vanscoy mine

Nutrien says a tight potash market is prompting job cuts at its mine near Vanscoy, Sask.

The company announced Tuesday morning that it would be eliminating 20 staff and 60 hourly positions at the mine, located about 40 kilometres southwest of Saskatoon.

A Nutrien press release indicated the company was cutting annual potash production at the Vanscoy mine from 2.2. million tonnes to 1.7 million tonnes, in an effort to shift production to lower-cost mines.

While 80 positions were being eliminated at the Vanscoy facility, the company said it expected to have about the same number of vacancies open up at other sites around Saskatchewan.

“We will do all that we can to relocate employees to job vacancies across our network. The changes announced today will allow our Vanscoy site to operate in a more sustainable state and provide remaining employees a more stable future,” Nutrien Potash CEO Susan Jones said in the company’s media release.

Nutrien employs about 4,000 people across Saskatchewan.